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Enterprise JavaBeans 3.0: Developing Enterprise Java Components

June 2, 2006

Sebastopol, CA--Just as the Java platform has revolutionized the way we think about software development, the Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) and Java Persistence specifications have revolutionized the way we think about developing mission-critical enterprise software. They combine server-side components with distributed object technologies, asynchronous messaging, web services, and persistence to greatly simplify the task of application development. It automatically takes into account many of the requirements of business systems including security, resource pooling, concurrency, and transactional integrity.

EJB had its flaws, and many critics willing to point them out. EJB 3.0 was designed to refocus on simplifying the developers' tasks and fix those problems. Because of the scope of this work, EJB 3.0 has greatly simplified enterprise application development. Unfortunately the changes in EJB 3.0 leave developers in need of an explanation of the fundamentals of EJB 3.0 and the Java Persistence programming models. Fortunately Bill Burke, a lead developer at JBoss, has produced the updated fifth edition of "Enterprise Java Beans" now called Enterprise JavaBeans 3.0 (Burke and Monson-Haefel, O'Reilly, US $49.99).

As Bill says, "Although EJB makes application development much simpler, it's still a complex technology that requires a great deal of time and study to master. This book provides a straightforward, no-nonsense explanation of the underlying technology, Java classes and interfaces, the component model, and the runtime behavior of EJB."

All the ways in which EJB 3.0 simplifies the standard are covered in detail: the new Persistence API, which replaces entity beans with "plain old Java objects" (POJOs); the use of Java annotations to provide information that was formerly contained in XML deployment descriptors; and the elimination of the need to implement the EnterpriseBean interfaces. This edition is updated with numerous examples that show you how to use these new features. Furthermore, it includes a workbook that shows you how to deploy all of these examples in the JBoss 4 application server.

This book covers the following topics and more:

  • Developing Entity Beans, Session Beans, and Message-Driven Beans
  • Using the Entity Manager and the Persistence APIs
  • Relationships between Entity Beans
  • Queries and the EJB Query Language
  • Entity Inheritance Mappings
  • The Timer Service
  • Injecting resources and the JNDI ENC
  • Interceptors
  • If you're using EJB 3.0, plan to migrate to it, or would like to see what it offers, "Enterprise Java Beans 3.0" sets the standard. It's the one resource you need.

    Bill Burke, is lead developer at JBoss, a Red Hat subsidiary, and represents the company on the EJB 3.0 and Java EE 5 specification committees. Coauthor Richard Monson-Haefel is one of the world's leading experts on Enterprise Java. Foreword by Linda DeMichiel, EJB 3.0 Specification Lead.

    Additional Resources:

    Enterprise JavaBeans 3.0, Fifth Edition
    Bill Burke and Richard Monson-Haefel
    ISBN: 0-596-00978-X, 732 pages, $49.99 US
    order@oreilly.com
    1-800-998-9938; 1-707-827-7000

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